Sounder for submarine signaling.



R. L WLLA MS.

Sll SBMEINE S'IGNALING.

BFPLICEII FILED DEC. 9, 19GB. 1,1 31,754 Patented Mar.16,1915.

L. WILLIAM,

www P05 SUEMAMNE MGNAMNG.

Patemted Mar. 16, i915.

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Ab'fi FILED DEAL 9, N09. ggjfg Patented Mar. 16 i915 6 SHEETS-SHLT uJLfwff fia, am Y R. L. WILLIAMS.

SOUNDER FOR SUBMARINE Si GNALING.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 9. 1909.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

6 SHBETSwHBET R. L. WILLIAMS. SOUNDER Pon SUBMARINE SIGNALING.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 9. 1909. 1,1 31,764. Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

6 SHEETS-'SHEET 6- W'-r-PIEEEEE: v HJJEPITU Ggf/@7s A @gni LM gy/wwROBERT L. WILLIAMS, vor NEWTON, MAS

vsIeNAI. COMPANY, oF WATERVILLE,

SACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SUBMARINE MAINE, A CORPORATION OFl MAINE.

SOUNDER;` FOR SUBMARINE SIGN ALING.

Application filed December 9 To all whom it may concern Be it known thatI, ROBERT L. WILLIAMS, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and YStateof Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Sounders for Submarine Signaling, of which thefollowing is a specification.`

Heretofore the vibrations of. Sounders for submarine signaling lpurposeshave been commonly excited either by direct impact, as of a clapper upona bell or the like, or by magnetic attraction and release as by anelectromagnet upon a suitably constructed vibrator such as a bell or adiaphragm.

The sounder' which I have invented consists essentially in two members,constituting a siren, which are submerged in a tank or similar means forcontaining Water, and are so constructed and arranged that the water isadmitted from the .tank into the inner member, and is ejected throughports in the outer member into the tank. I thus provide for a constantcirculation of water through my sounder or siren, as contrasted withattempts which have been previously made in which it has been necessaryto carry the water through a pipe to the sounder from a special sourceof supply. It is also a serious difiiculty with apparatus of this classthat an unbalancedpressure of Water upon the outer member will createundesirable friction and interfere with the rapid rotation of themovable member. To obviate this serious defect, I have in all cases socontrived and arranged my apparatus that the pressure exerted by theWat-er or other fluid through the ports of the inner member upon theouter member is balanced, and I regard this as an important andfundamental characteristic of myapparatus, and believe it to be broadlynovel in the art.

My invention in one form comprises a ro'- tary inner casing providedwith ports and inclosed in an oute'r casing also provided' with ports,the Whole combined with means for rotating the inner casing and'withsuch accessories as may be desirable. But it is evident that myinvention will also include certain variations of construction, theessence of the invention being that the ports of one casing pass theports of the other. In fact both may rotate provided they rotate inopposite directions or in different speeds Specication of LettersPatent.

vcasing revolves, Fig. 4

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

, 1909. Serial No. 532,197.

in the same direction. most conveniently used naling is water but I domyselfl to water.

In using the term inclosed as applied to the position of the innercasing with relation to the outer casing, I do not mean that the outercasing actually surrounds the interior member on all sides but the twoare so arranged that the ports of the inner member will be alternatelyopened and closed because of their periodic registry with ports in theouter member or casing and the fluid will be forced from the innercasing through the ports in the outer casing, and the pressure of theHuid upon the outer casing through the ports of the inner casing will bebalanced in all cases.

I have shown in the drawings various structures illustrating some of theembodiments of my invention. As a matter of convenience I shall refer tothe inner member, that from which the Water is expelled,.as a cylinder,and the outer member through the Walls of which it is expelled as acasing, though without this explanation those terms'may not always beapt.

Figure l is a side elevation of an appara- The exciting Huid forsubmarine signot mean to limit tus embodying my invention located in aWater tank which is shown in section. 2 is a vertical section Fig. l, Fig. 2a being a section of the cylinder and its easing taken on line Th2aof F ig.'2. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modification in which thecylinder is stationary and the being a section thereof. Fig. 45* is afragmentary section showing ports of different shape from those shown inFig. 4. Figs. 5 and 6 show another modilication in which both the casingand the cylinder revolve, but in opposite directions, Fig. 5 showing theparts in section and Fig. 6 being a side elevation. Fig. 7 is Fig. ofthe apparatus of la section showing a stationary cylinder, the casingbeing in the form of two disks, the

ports being located in the side walls of both cylinder and casinginstead of in their perifphery, Fig. 8 being a view on line 8 8 o Fig.7. Figs. 9, 10 and l1 show the application of my invention to vessels.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 2, A is the cylinder having a hub A1by means of which it is attached to the shaft B toturn therewith.

The cylinder 1s provided with a series of ports a which are preferablyrectangular in plan and approximately Wedgeshaped in cross section asshown in Fig. 2, being larger 'at the inlet than at the outlet. Oppositethe hub A1, the cylinder has an l opening a1 through which the Water orother fluid may flow into the cylinder A. The

- than at the outlet. This casing is provided With a hub d2 to inclosethe hub A1 of the cylinder and it also has a bearing d for the shaft B,this bearing being threaded at its outer end so that it may screw intothe collar D1 which is bolted to any suitable support. y

Within the cylinder A I provide a number of blades G attached thereto torotate therewith for the purpose of driving the fluid therefromcentrifugally as the cylinder revolves. Upon the outer end of the shaftB is carried a pulley B2 by Which power may be applied to the shaft B torotate the cylinder A.

The apparatus may be attached to any .convenient portion of a shipsinterior, or other convenient place Where the sounder is to be used. Inpractice such a sounder is preferably located in a Water tank forming aninclosure inside of the ship of sufficient size to allow the properoperation of the sounder, though it may be mounted in a water ballasttank (see Figs. 9 and 10). The ships Wall or hull is shown at C (Fig. l)and the wall of the tank to which the apparatus is attached is indicatedin all views at C1, the bottom of the tank being marked C2 and the topC3. The tank is preferably made in one casting, its top and bottom beingattached to the ships side by brackets o of suitable shape and bolted tothe Ships side. It has a suitable opening through which it may be filledwith water. In this form of 'my invention I usually provide a drain pipeE which is connected to the two sides of the chamber in which thecylinder rotates by branches e and leads out of the tank so as toprevent any accumulation of pressure in the chamber containing thecylinder. Such pressure might result from a leakage of Water from theports leading from the inner cylinder and Where the pressure was verygreat an accumulation of pressure between the moving parts wouldnecessarily result in considerable4 friction. The element of friction isone which this device in its various forms is intended to eliminate sofar as possible and hence to. eliminate friction at this point I use thepipe referred to by-which this liquid may pass oil under pressure. Ialso provide a pipe F connected to the same chamber by branches f, f,and leading upfabove the Water level through the top of the tank ifnecessary so that air may freely-enter the chamber to take the place ofthe Water which drains out through the pipe E.

The apparatus being located in a `Water tank as above referred to, thecylinder' is of course flooded with Water when still. The rapid actionof the blades G during the rotation of the cylinder A causes thedelivery of the water by centrifugal force through the openings a andal, the rapid passage of the openings by each other cutting off thestreams of water into jets, there being a continuous series of eiiluxesand stoppages which when suhciently rapid cause the production of sound.As -the Water is driven out other Water takes its place through theopenings a1, al1 to be similarly expelled. The pitch of the note soundedby the device depends upon the speed of rotation of the cylinder and thenumber of openings.

The wedge-shaped character of the openings I also find of considerablevalue in reducing the friction of the jets as they pass through thecylinder giving a free clearance as they escape from the casing and asharp cut-0E at the desired instant. I have shown the number of ports inthe moving member as being equal to the number in the stationary memberas this is perferable. If they are not equal or a multiple of each otherthe best results will not be secured as the ports will not open and'close simultaneously. Vhen the ports of the cylinder are not oppositethe ports lof the casing the pressure of the Water in the cylinder actsagainst the rim Iof the casing..

But by the arrangement' I have shown this pressure is radial andbalanced and hence in no Way increases the friction of the moving partsfor there will be no tendency of the Water pressure to drive any movingpart against another part which would result necessarily in friction..On the contrary the pressure is exerted radially over the axis of thedevice in most forms of my invention or on opposite sides of the deviceso that pressure is equal in allA directions.

When systematic or code signaling of any kind is desirable Withoutstopping the rotation of the cylinder the casing may be provided with aring L which may be moved on the casing to close the ports d and so stopthe efllux of water and the sound produced thereby as shown in Fig. l orbe moved to open the ports/l as shown in Fig. 2 and allow the Water toescape. I have shown means for moving this ring in 1 where L1 is a handlever the upper` end of which passes up through the. top of the tank,its lower end being forked to straddle the shaft hearing Z3 and pipe E,the extremities of the fork being pivoted as at Z to lugs Z1 attached tothe lower part of the tank wall C1. Links L2 pivoted both to the forkedportions of the lever E and to both sides of the ring L so connect theseparts that a movement of the lever from its position in Fig. l to theleft will withdraw the ring into the position shown in Fig. 2.

It will be seen tnat by moving the handle to open the ports theapparatus will sound and continue' to sound until the ports are closed.These periods of opening and closing may be of any desired length oftime according to a predetermined code, and while the lever is shown asmoved by hand, it is evident` that it may be otherwise moved it'desired.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown another 't'c 'in of my invention in whichinstead of relying upon the blades G upon lie interior of the movingcylinder to ejec Water by t leal force from the interior of the is andsimultaneously to draw in a .sh supply, I use a pump which forces liquidinto the cylinder thus ejecting its' contents therefrom. H is the pump,h being the u` .ral air chamber. The pump is fed by the pipe H1 from thetanl-z in which the .rneel suspended. Beyond the air chamber the pipedivides itself into two parts, one part l l? returning to the tank, theother It H 1g connected with the interior der as shown in ,FigflL H4 isa cool: of ordinary construction he water afterpassing the pump 1 turnedeither through the pipe H3 to the sounder back into the tanl: H2 asKsired. By this construction sys- .alin may also oe carried on, the Iingsounds of a length cont! .,|i..... uy tu .inse-way valve and dependingen whether -water from the pump is forced pipe H3 into the cylinder orthe. pipe ii hack into the tank. This valve may be controlled in suchway seems best. In. these views I have also shown a modification et theconstruction ofcylinder and casing. he casing is similar to that shownin F gs. l and 2 in so far as it surrounds the chamber-ed cylinder onits outer side and psripl'iery, but it dili'ers from that it iscup-shaped and "ts outer wall being inthus performing the function of'the pipe e in the form of my invention shown in Fig. l. The casing ismounted on the shaft B which carries the pulley B2 as before. A. collarI) pinned to the shaft B serves as a thrust bearing against the innerwall of the cylinder A. In this case a pressure is maintained by thepump H independent of the speed of rotation of any of the parts, whereasin the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the effectiveness of the apparatusdepends upon the speed of rotation because the speed of rotation of theblades G controls the pressure by which the`Water is ex elled. If theports in this form of my device are shaped and arranged as shown in Fig.41 the pressure from the pump will be sulficicnt to drive the outercasing owing to shape of its parts and their direction in relation tothe direction of the liquid as it issues from the cylinder. In this viewthe ports are lettered al", di".

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown another form of myV invention in whichboth the interior and exterior parts rotate though in oppositedirections. To this end the shaft B upon which the interior cylinder Ais mounted has at its outer end a beveled gear B to which power istransmitted through the gear B4 from the pulley B'1 on shaft B5 mountedin suitable bearings upon the outer wall of the tank. A gear d" which ismounted on a sleeve d5 on the outer end of which is carried the casingis also in mesh with the gear Bt A long bearing d bolted to the wall C1of the tank' supports the apparatus. In this case .the inner cylinder isprovided with blades G by which the water is epelled from the cylinderthrough the openings in the periphery of both cylinder and casing as inFigs. l and 2, water being drawn in through the opening a in the centerof the cylinder. The blades in this case are shaped and arranged likethose shown in Fig. 9. between the central opening and the rimcontaining the ports. The casing in this instance has no outer orincasing wall.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown still another form of construction inwhich the interior cylinder Aw is stationary, being mounted on asupporting bracket A3, this cylinder having ports a in'its sides. Theouter casing comprises two disks D", cach having a hub D pinned to theshaft B carrying the pulley B2 to turn therewith` these disks beingprovided with side ports d? to register with the ports a in the sidewalls of the cylinder. It will be seen that by having two disks, any endthrust along the shaft duc to theI pressure of the water through theports of the cylinder when they are closed is balanced. Water issupplied to this 4device by a pump as before though in this case 'I havenot shown the three-way valve but merely a circulating system from thetank to the pump and out again through the apparatus. 1

It will be Seen from these various embodiments of my invention that itis capable of considerable variation in construction. Nor have i shownall its `forms Vof embodiments.

As to the mode of use of the invention it may be located in a specialwater tank as Shown in the earlier views or as shown in Figs. 9 and 10where my apparatus K is belted to a motor J, the sounder being locatedin a tank in the fore peak of the ship; Fig. l1 shows the apparatus asit may be mounted on a Submarine boat. Here it is in the open Water, themotor J. being mounted directly on the shaft B,

It will be appreciated that in a device of this kind Where greatrapidity of rotation is required friction must be reduced to the leastpossible amount and it will be noted upon examination of the forms of myinvention Shown that so far as possible frio' tion due to end thrust ofthe shaft-S has been reduced to a minimum by having the port openings atright angles to the shaft except in Figs. 7 and 8 where the ports in therotating casing are in both the sides thus bal ancing each other..

Vhat I claim as my invention is:

1. A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a liquiddilled tank, twoconcentric members submergedtherein, one member being within the other,the inner member being chambered, each member having ports, the ports'ofone member being located to register with the ports of the other member,one of said members being adapted to be rotated with relation to theother member, said ports being located on opposite sides of said memberswhereby when said ports register the pressure within said inembers willbe released in opposite directions.

2. A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a li uid-filledtank,.two concentric members su merged therein, one member being withinthe other, the inner member being ohambered, each member having ports,the ports of one member being located to register with the ports of theother member,.one of. said members being adapted to be rotated withrelation to the other member, said ports being located on opposite sidesof said members whereby `when said ports register the pressure withinsaidmembers will bereleased radially. I

3. Av sounder for submarine signaling comprising a liquid-filled tank,two concen- Y tric members submerged in said tank, one member beingwithin the other, the inner of said members Vhaving a chambntherein, andmeans for rotating one of said members with relation te the other, saidmembers having ports edeuted to register with other, seid mber having aninlet to insigne liquid from said tank, and means for causing thecontents of said tank to circulate through said chamber and out saidports.

4f. A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a liquid-i1led tank,two concentric members submerged therein, one member being Within theother, the inner member being adapted to be rotated, cach of saidmembers having ports adapted to register with those of the other, theinner member` having a chamber, and means whereby the contents of saidtank may be circulated through said chamber and said ports, said membersbeing located in close rclation'to each other, the outer member beingprovided with pipe connections lending from the space between saidmembers adapted to release pressure in said space. Y

5. A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a liquid-Hiled tank, twoconcentric members submerged therein, one mem ber being Within theother, the inner member being adapted to be rotated, each of saidmembers having ports adapted to register with those oi' the other, theinner member having a chamber, and means whereby the contents of saidtank. may be circulated through said chamber and said ports, saidmembers bei'ng located in close relation to each other, the outer memberbeing provided with means whereby increase ci: pressure in the Spacebetween said members may bc prevented, said means comprising aconnection leading from the space between said members to a pointoutside the tank.

6. A sounder for Ysubmarine signaling comprising a liquid-filled tank,two concentri'e members submerged therein, one member being within theother, the inner member contents of said tank may be circulated throughsaid chamber and said ports, said members being located in closerelation to each other, the outer member being provided with meanswhereby increase or" pressure in the space between said members may beprevented, said means comprising a connection leading from the`atmosphere to the space between the members-adapted to supply airthereto.

7. A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a liquid-filled tank,two concentric members submerged therein, one member being within .theother, the inner member being adapted to be rotated,each of said membershaving ports adapted to register with those of the other, the innermember having a chamber, and means whereby the `contents of said tankmay be circulated ea b oth member being proidded `with means wherebyincrease of pressure in the space between said members may be prevented,said means comprising a connection leading from the atmosphere to thespace between the members adapted to supply air thereto, and aconnection leading trom the space between said members to a pointoutside the tank whereby increase of pressure in the space between themembers Wil be prevented.

8. A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a liquid-filled tank,two concentric members` bein submerged therein, one member being Wit inthe other, the outer member being stationary, means for rotating theinner member, the inner member having a chamber and said members havingports adapted to register, means yfor supplying said chamber with liquidfrom said tank, and means for forcing the liquid from said chamber outthrough said ports when said ports are in register, and means adapted toprevent the increase of pressure between said members, as described.

9S A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a liquid-filled tank andtwo concentric members submerged therein, one of said members beingWithin the other, the inner member being chambered, each member havingdischarge ports adapted simultaneously to register with the dischargeports of the other member, in combination with means whereby theintermittent registration of Raid ports is eiected and liquid is disredunder pressure therethrough.

A sounder for submarine signaling comprising a tank filled with liquidunder pressure and two concentric members located therein, one memberbeing located Within the other, the inner one of said members beingprovided with a chamber, said members having ports adapted to registerwith each other, and means for forcing the Water of said tank into saidchamber and out through said ports and into said tank when said portsare in register, as described.

ROBERT L. WILLIAMS Witnesses:

GEORGE O. Gr. CoALE, M. E. FLAHERTY.

